Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Today in History for Feb. 10, 2015

Andrew Pickens of South Carolina

Feb. 10, 1763 – The 1763 Treaty of Paris ended the French
and Indian War, and France ceded Quebec to Great Britain.

Feb. 10, 1777 - The Battle of Carr's Fort took place in
Wilkes County, Ga. Colonel Andrew Pickens of South Carolina with Colonel John
Dooly and Lieutenant Colonel Elijah Clarke of Georgia led 340 men in an attack
against a group of approximately 200 Loyalists under the command of Colonel
John Hamilton. The Patriots abandoned the seige when they learned that several
hundred loyalists were approaching to support Hamilton. The loyalists were
surprised and routed at the Battle of Kettle Creek.

Feb. 10, 1840 – John S. Crawford was born. He would go on to
serve in Co. B, 3rd Alabama Confederate Cavalry Regiment during the Civil War. He
died in 1928 and is buried at Old Bethany Baptist Church at Burnt Corn, Ala.

Feb. 10, 1861 – Jefferson Davis was notified by telegraph
that he had been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of
America. Davis remained president of the Confederacy until its government was
dissolved on May 5, 1865. Less than a week later, he was captured by the Union
and jailed for two years. He died at age 81 in New Orleans in 1889.

Feb. 10, 1862 – During the Civil War, a Union naval flotilla
destroyed the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth
City on the Pasquotank River in North Carolina.

Feb. 10, 1862 – Richard Hartsfield, 31, of Butler County,
Ala. was murdered by two slaves, Simon and Lewis, at Monterey. A few days
later, a large mob would burn Simon and Lewis to death as punishment. (The
History of Butler County, pages 124-128)

Feb. 10, 1881 - The Alabama Legislature established Tuskegee
Institute as a "normal school for the education of colored teachers."
The law stipulated that no tuition would be charged and graduates must agree to
teach for two years in Alabama schools. Booker T. Washington was chosen as the
first superintendent and arrived in Alabama in June 1881. Washington's
leadership would make Tuskegee one of the most famous and celebrated historic
black colleges in the U.S.

Feb. 10, 1897 - "The New York Times" began
printing "All the news that's fit to print" on their front page.

Feb. 10, 1920 - Major league baseball representatives
outlawed pitches that involve tampering with the ball.

Feb. 10, 1922 – In the fictional video game, “Call of
Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth,” private investigator Jack Walters was
rescued by the USS Urania, a Coast Guard cutter which was part of a group
heading to Devil's Reef, following up on a lead provided by the FBI. On the way
there, wizards on the reef summoned powerful tidal waves to destroy the
flotilla, but Jack killed them.

Feb. 10, 1955 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Wayne
Thames had been named Alabama’s “Future Farmer of the Year” and that he would
receive the $300 Turner E. Smith Educational Award and an engraved cup during
the State FFA Convention in June. Thames was a member of the Lyeffion, Ala. FFA
Chapter and “was selected on a basis of his leadership in FFA, school and
community in addition to his outstanding farming program.”

Feb. 10, 1961 - The American Football League's Los Angeles
franchise was transferred to San Diego.

Feb. 10, 1967 - The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
was ratified. The amendment required the appointment of a vice-president when
that office became vacant and instituted new measures in the event of
presidential disability.

Feb. 10, 1970 – Walter Poole and Eugene Darby were elected
to Sparta Academy’s board of directors, increasing the board’s membership from
five members to seven. The other board members included Eldon Scott, president;
Sam Cope, Dr. Cecil Price, L.W. Price Jr. and John Greel Ralls. The board also
scheduled a March 3 open meeting at the Murphy Club in Evergreen, Ala. to allow parents
to receive information about the school.

Feb. 10, 1980 – Nine years after the famous D.B. Cooper
hijacking, eight-year-old Brian Ingram uncovered a package in the sand along
the Columbia River near Portland, Oregon that contained three packs of $20
bills from the hijacking.

Feb. 10, 1985 – Mildred Riggs Price, 67, of 102 South Main
St. in Evergreen, Ala. passed away in a Brewton nursing home. She was a retired
school teacher who taught in Conecuh County schools for over 30 years. Her late
husband, Dr. Everette Price, was the county coroner for over 40 years.